Full of love...

This little guy has filled our house with visitors and love! Here is how the first few weeks went...Cece, Juju and Mannie were here for the birth then Mimi and Poppy came the weekend after...

Then Pops and Mawga came that Thursday!

Then the Dentons the next day!

Miles loved John Pierce

Mason really loved him!

and Anna just liked him.

We were over joyed with so much love in our house and had so much fun laughing, cooking, taking an impromptu trip to Tallahassee, playing on base, going to Michael's Deli for delicious fried pickles, mushrooms and zucchini and shrimp poboys, going on walks and loving on our sweet lamb. But, shew, we are loving being a sweet little family in our quiet little house!

We can't wait for Easter so we can see everyone again.

Today is your day...

John Pierce Sparks

Friday, March 11, 2011 at 6:58 pm.

9 pounds 5 ounces

21 inches

The most amazing experience of my life. Billy got to actually deliver our son...My recollection of this moment doesn't do the moment justice...you must ask Billy. I didn't really understand that he was actually delivering our son until I looked down to see the babys head and saw Billys hands holding him...turning his shoulders and pulling some more. I looked up at Billy as clearly as I could through my weeping and saw him weeping with joy, amazement and love.

Truly a Godly experience, we will never forget.

This picture is one of my favorite pictures I have ever seen...my mom and sisters (the hens as I refer to them as) had snuck into the delivery room and hidden behind the curtain to see the baby and take pictures, I was not happy about this but God has a way of changing things and making everything ok. Jaja (Jessica) took this picture and I am so grateful.

I felt like I was in a cloud, I was hemorrhaging and couldn't see my son from the nurses doing their thing and Billy watching, so God gave me the distraction of worrying about my family seeing my "good girl" instead of concentrating on what was happening and my now realization that I was so weak from blood loss that I would have missed out on part of the amazement in what we were experiencing as a family, big and small.

I look at this picture and I get teary eyed...I see the love that my husband has for me and it takes my breath away. God has truly blessed me with him.

His sweet sweet little feet
The perfection that God has given us...an angel we call John Pierce.
I know this is so cliche but it is so true, you do not know love until you have a child. I love my husband more, the Lord more, and my son in a way I have never felt. Life is so different, I see things differently, I react differently and it's all because of this little guy who I feel magically appeared one beautiful Friday evening.
I'm trying not to be a crazy lady and let others change him or hold him or be paranoid about something happening when he is sleeping...but it is so hard...I'm now expected to share him after he and I have been in a private relationship for 10 months, it almost breaks my heart, lies...it does break my heart...then I look at my sweet husband with our son and it suddenly makes everything easy and ok...kind of!

"KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!"

My favorite room of ALL TIME!

Our Sweet little Lambs Nursery!

The chalkboard is probably my favorite thing besides our bedding in the room! I happened to look down and see it at Hobby Lobby and Billy found this translation of 1 Sam. 1:27,

"I asked the Lord to give me this boy and he has granted my request"
We thought it was absolutely perfect!

The glider! The most comfortable place to sit in my house. I'm in love with it!
Now for the bedding! We were fortunate enough to receive our bedding as a Christmas gift from my sisters and it came in last night! I'm SO in love with it!

Here is his sweet monogram!
A full view of the bedding!

A friend of ours made this for us! His Hospital sign! When he finally comes we will add his measurements to the bottom half of the cross! When we get home it will hang on his door!

I sit here in amazement, that this is where my life has ended up!
Married to my very best friend...whom I NEVER saw myself with while dating in High School or after for that matter...a man of God who leads me daily, who picks me up when I'm unbearable. Who makes me laugh all the time especially when I DO NOT want to! And I'm about to have his child, a son, whom we have prayed for for such a long time. I am completely bewildered at my age, that I am old enough to be married and starting a family of my own. But mostly I feel blessed beyond measure to be given such a gift that we call our little lamb. I cry when I think about how life has turned out...how God is allowing us to live our dreams. Mine being one that I think every little girl dreams of...marrying her best friend, who loves the Lord more than her and her more than himself; to bear his children and to stay at home and raise them. Billy's (I think) being another one a lot of little boys dream about, being a Drill Sergeant and bossing young men around and training them to defend something so dear to our hearts, to have a wife that loves him and will follow him anywhere, and a son who will undoubtably idolize him for a long time to come.

As I cry the only thing that seems to come out of my mouth is:

God is so good.

33 weeks 5 days

Ok, so we have a little while to go but my little Moose is weighing in 2 lbs over what he should...so Moose is no exageration! 2 weeks ago he was measuring 5 lbs 15 ounces...so 6 lbs. He was suppose to weigh right at 4 pounds! He should gain a half a pound a week so he should be 7 pounds on Wednesday! Yes, I still want to go naturally!

My face is starting to gain weight, joy!

We're so ready to meet our little guy...in due time!

A little nesting...

Billy and I are blessed beyond measure. My family has given John Pierce and us more than we could ever expect or understand. We are so extremely grateful for the amazing Christmas we just had. My parents have us our nursery furniture...our crib, chest of drawers and dresser.

Here is the chest of drawers that we are going to use as a changing table!

I am so in love with the Glory Haus canvas hanging above it.

It says, "You are a child of God, you are wonderfully made, dearly loved and precious in his sight. Before God made you, He knew you...there is no one like you!"

The dresser!

The silhouette picture is of me at 17 weeks. My mom had silhouettes made of my nieces and nephews for my sisters and decided to have one made of my pregnancy...and I love it! What a neat way to capture such a beautiful time!
The blue picture frame has the nursery rhyme "What are little boys made of"on it...I think it foreshadows the excitement that we are going to experience with this little boy of ours...if he's anything like his daddy!

I'm SO in love with this crib! I think it matches our style perfectly!

And for the cradle...I'm so excited about this...My brother-in-law Tom slept in this as a baby...all of my sister Jessica's babies slept in it...now, my little lamb will sleep in it too! I love the history that we will get to teach John Pierce one day, and hopefully siblings of his as well!

We are FAR from finished with the nursery or even the cradle but I'm feeling a sense of "on top of things" so far...and it's a good feeling! Our crib bedding should be here in 3 weeks... having that will be a big step in the completion of his nursery for sure!

I never really understood the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child" until this Christmas, my family is as tight as a village for sure. I also never fully understood Mary's sacrifice until this year. What an amazing woman she was.

It is hard for me to imagine loving my little lamb more than I already do but I know somehow I will...and I'm so excited to smell his sweet little head, kiss his little hands and feet and soothe his fussiness.

Belly Bump

Here is my sweet little guy at 25 weeks!

I'm not gonna lie, I look at this picture and see a moose has taken over my face and it is only going to get bigger...But, if having a healthy little guy means a moose eats my face then a whale eats the moose then I'm completely ok with it!

I really can't wait to hold this sweet little lamb of ours! God truly is so good!

Another "It's a Boy" post!

My mom brought some cake pops, delicious cake pops, down so I could tell my friends what we were having so, the day we found out what we were having I had a girls night..."Gender revealing party" if you will!

Shannon, Sarah, Jen, Jenny and Jeanna

Curry!

Some of my sweet Senior girls finding out! Lakin and Danielle. Lakin swore he was a girl!

Danielle loving on John Pierce and I!